


Won't you come see about me

by kitlee625



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-02-22
Packaged: 2018-05-11 15:10:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5631088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitlee625/pseuds/kitlee625
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pitch Perfect AU. Last year, the Barden Bellas were so close to winning the ICCA, but lost everything after a disastrous final performance by Melinda May. Now Melinda just wants to finish college, graduate, and forget her past humiliation, while Bobbi and Jemma are determined to restore the good name of the Bellas, starting by recruiting freshman Daisy, who isn’t even sure she wants to be in college. But can they beat their arch rivals, the Treblemakers, led by Melinda’s ex-boyfriend Grant Ward?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Sarahastro for all her help/advice/editing on this story.

“Where the hell were you?” Victoria hisses as Melinda hurries to join the rest of the Bellas backstage before their performance at the ICCA Finals. On stage, the Treblemakers have just started their opening number, Counting Stars, and it hurts to watch Grant dancing and singing so charmingly, like nothing is wrong. To listen to him, no one would know that he and Melinda had spent the last several hours screaming at each other.

Melinda just shakes her head and gets into position beside Bobbi, who squeezes her hand reassuringly.

“You look awful,” Victoria hisses. She gestures at Melinda’s pink, tear-stained face and says, “Do something about that.”

Melinda’s face falls, but Bobbi immediately grabs a compact out of her purse and starts touching up Melinda’s makeup. “You look fine,” she whispers.” No one will notice. How’s your voice?”

“Shot,” Melinda whispers. Her voice had already been pushed to the limit with the endless rehearsals, and fighting with Grant and then crying in the bathroom alone has left her sounding weak and hoarse.

Bobbi tries to give her a reassuring look, but she glances nervously at Victoria. “If you want, I could try to do your solo,” she offers, but Victoria overhears and shoots them both a glare.

“No last minute changes,” she snaps. “We do it exactly like we’ve done a thousand times at practice. That’s how we’re going to win.” She glares at them as if daring them to challenge her, and Bobbi and Melinda both nod.

Bobbi pats Melinda on the shoulder. “You’ll do great. And you look great too, if I do say so myself. Do you want to talk about what happened?”

Melinda shakes her head and tries not to start crying again and ruin Bobbi’s makeup job. “Later.” 

“After this over,” Bobbi says. “We’ll get a drink to celebrate and rub our victory in the Treblemakers’ faces.”

She tries to smile with a confidence that she does not have. “Deal.”

*****

Melinda is not sure how she even made it off stage, but somehow she is in the backstage bathroom while Bobbi washes vomit out of her hair. Victoria’s girlfriend Isabelle is standing guard nearby, keeping an eye out for Victoria and the rest of the Bellas. When she sees them coming, she gestures to Bobbi, who hands Melinda a cup of water and steps into the doorway to face Victoria’s anger.

Her previous tirades about missed notes and flubbed solos are nothing compared to right now. “You are lucky that I am graduating,” she hisses when she comes into the bathroom. “Because if I were still in charge, I would make it my mission to make sure you never sang at Barden again.”

Isabelle glares at her. “Take it easy, Vic. Melinda feels bad enough as it is.”

There is an icy rage in Victoria’s eyes. “She ruined the Bellas. I’ve been working to win the ICCA Finals since freshman year, and what do I have to show for it? Our routine was perfect, and then she had to go and fuck everything up.”

Her voice can barely go above a whisper, but Melinda manages a weak, “I’m sorry.”

“Well that makes it all better,” she snaps. Before she can say anything else, the Treblemakers come up behind them. Most of them look smug and happy with their victory, but Grant shoots Melinda a sullen and angry look. Their leader, John Garrett, claps Victoria on the back.

“Hey Vic, just came by to thank you guys. I mean, if you guys hadn’t had a total meltdown on stage, we wouldn’t have gotten this.” He holds up their second place trophy and grins at them. His smile twists into a sneer when he sees Melinda, sitting on the floor of the bathroom looking miserable. “Looks like your girl’s not feeling so hot. You know a little Plan B will clear that right up.”

Bobbi jumps up and gets right in his face, using her entire 5’ 11” to her advantage. “You want to take a walk right about now.”

He holds up his hands. “Didn’t mean to insult your girlfriend, Bobbi.”

Behind him, Phil grabs his arm. “Sorry. He’s already been celebrating with too much whiskey. Come on John before Bobbi has to put her foot up your ass.” He gives the Bellas an apologetic look as he drags John away.

Victoria gives Melinda one last disdainful look and storms out, presumably to go drown her sorrows at the hotel bar, followed by the rest of the Bellas. Bobbi and Melinda are left alone in the bathroom, and Bobbi puts her arms around Melinda. 

“It’ll be better next year,” she tells her. “Next year is our year.”


	2. Chapter 2

Professor Jiaying Johnson pulls up to a spot outside of James Hall and steps out of the car, a wide smile on her face as she takes in the sight of the campus. Her daughter Daisy gets out of the passenger seat with a scowl and comes around to stand next to her, and she drapes her arm around her shoulder.

“Well?” she asks, beaming at her. “What do you think?”

Daisy shrugs. “Looks like the same Barden campus you’ve been dragging me around since I was four.”

“But it’s not just my school anymore.” She gestures to encompass the whole campus. “This is all yours now.”

She crosses her arms. “Just for a year. That was the deal right? And then you’ll help me move to LA and start a career in music.”

Jiaying sighs. “I know that’s what you want, but I don’t want you miss out on college. You’ll never get a chance to have these experiences again.”

She rolls her eyes. “I know, I know. It’s how you met Dad, when you both did volunteer work in China for the summer. But I don’t need to meet a boyfriend, Mom. I need to start my career.”

“It’s not just about getting a boyfriend, Daisy. You may think that you’re already all grown up, but college is a time to learn more about yourself and figure out who you want to be.”

Daisy sighs and stares at the dorm. She’s tired of having the same arguments again and again, so she just says, “Fine. I’ll give it a shot. But I’m not forgetting our deal.” 

She grabs her backpack out of the car, her mother grabs a suitcase out of the trunk, and they head up to her room. Her roommate has not moved in yet, so Daisy has her pick of the identical twin beds. Her mother tries to help her start unpacking, but when she sets up her sound mixing equipment incorrectly, Daisy sends her back home.

Once her mother is gone, she checks her phone for messages. Her boyfriend Miles has already left her two texts and a picture of himself in LA. Her parents do not approve of Miles because he wants to be in the music industry and has already moved out to LA to start paying his dues. Part of her regrets not going out there with him, even though it would mean being totally broke and probably living out of his van for a while. She hopes that he does not think that she is selling out by coming to Barden. But she reassures herself that in just a year she will be out in LA with him, and this way they will have her parents to back them up. Then they can make their mark on the music industry together.

*****

Bobbi sighs when she comes home and finds her roommate still lying in bed in her pajamas. She had barely heard from Melinda all summer, and since coming back to campus, Melinda has spent most of her time curled up in bed, hiding from the world. Bobbi does not blame her -- when she managed to coax Melinda to the dining hall for dinner last night, they had seen two people laughing at them and another person had spent the meal making fake vomit sounds at Melinda. But enough is enough, and Bobbi is tired of seeing Melinda mope all day. 

She tosses a clean pair of socks in Melinda’s direction. “Seriously? You’ve got to get up. It’s almost time for the activity fair.”

Melinda sticks her head out from under the covers. “I’m not going. I don’t think I’m really the best person to gush about the joys of being a Bella.”

“You’re the perfect person. You love singing and being a Bella. Sure, you had a little disappointment during Finals last year --”

She grimaces at the memory. “When I couldn’t hit any of my notes and threw up on stage.”

“-- but that’s only more reason to make this year the best year ever. This can be our year to finally beat the Treblemakers and win the ICCA Finals.”

She pulls the covers over her head again. With a muffled voice, she says, “You sound like Victoria.”

Bobbi sighs and yanks the covers off her head. “Victoria might have been a hard ass, but she trained us to be the best. Besides, it wasn’t all hard work. Remember how much fun we used to have?”

Melinda sighs and sits up, shaking her head, but she reaches for her clothes to get dressed. “Fine. I’ll go, but only for an hour.”

When they get to the activity fair, they are surprised to find Jemma Simmons already setting up their booth. Jemma had been a freshman last year, and they assumed that she had quit after Finals like all of the other freshmen. But when she sees them, she gives them a bright smile and waves them over.

“I’m so glad you’re here! I got here a little early, and I did as much as I could to get everything set up, but I didn’t have all of the informational packets. Oh good, you brought them.”

Bobbi sets them down on the table. “Yeah. Well thanks for taking care of everything else.” There is a cheerful banner behind her, as well as a poster with pictures of the team from last year. “It looks great.”

Jemma beams. “I’m glad you like it! Being a Bella was the best thing that happened to me last year, and I really want to show everyone how wonderful it is. I know we have to do a lot of recruiting to keep our numbers up.”

Melinda and Bobbi exchange a look. Even Bobbi would not go so far as to say that being a Bella was the best thing about last year, not with the fresh sting of humiliation, but she is glad to have someone so enthusiastic to talk to potential recruits.

Unfortunately, word has already spread about their disastrous performance, and most people walk right by the booth without giving it a second look. A few of the upperclassmen snicker, especially girls who had been rejected by the Bellas before. Jemma though isn’t discouraged and focuses her efforts on the new freshman. Every new girl is greeted with a big smile and a flyer, and a few actually take them before hurrying off. 

“How do you know that these girls can all sing?” Melinda asks.

“How do we know they can’t? They could be awesome, and full of untapped aca-potential,” Jemma says brightly.

“We’ll figure it out at tryouts. We just have to make sure we have enough people there,” Bobbi says.

The three of them stay out there for hours, and even though they give out as many flyers are possible, they are still discouraged by their prospects as they are packing up the booth. They all cannot help but notice that the list of interested students is much shorter than it has been in past years.

*****

Melinda has a meeting with her advisor, and Bobbi has to meet a friend for class, so Jemma volunteers to bring the banner and poster back to the practice room. She is walking back towards the music building when she notices Daisy sitting by herself. She is completely engrossed in something on her laptop, but Jemma notices that she is singing “Cups” softly to herself. Even though she is singing quietly, Jemma can tell that she has a great voice.

Whatever she is listening to must be loud because it takes a minute before she notices Jemma standing in front of her. Daisy slides her headphones down around her neck and gives Jemma a puzzled look. “Do you need something?”

“Hi, are you a freshman?”

“What, do I have a sign on my back or something that says that?”

“No. I just haven’t seen you around before. I’m Jemma.” She sticks out her hand, and Daisy looks smiles and shakes her hand.

“Daisy.”

“I heard you singing,” Jemma says. “You were really good. I’m part of the Barden Bellas, one of the a cappella groups on campus, and we’re recruiting some new members. Tryouts are in a couple of weeks.”

Daisy makes a face. “Isn't a cappella singing without any instruments? Because that's not really my thing."

Jemma’s cheerful smile doesn’t waver. “But a cappella is fun, and it’s a great opportunity. We get to travel around the country to perform at competitions --"

Daisy makes a face. "On purpose?"

"-- and we all get very close, like a family.”

Daisy shakes her head. “No thanks. I’m not really a joiner.” She gives her an apologetic smile and picks up her headphones again.

“Please, think about it at least,” Jemma says. “You really do have a great voice.”

Daisy’s face softens, and she gives Jemma a small smile. “Okay. I’ll think about it.”

*****

Daisy is not entirely sure why, but a few nights later while waiting for Miles to call, she does think about her conversation with Jemma again. Because of the time difference, Miles only calls late at night, if at all, and Daisy has fallen into a depressing routine of mixing music until 3 or 4 in the morning while waiting for him to call. It is certainly not how she imagined her life in college. Even though she never intended on getting that involved in campus life, she is still envious of her roommate, who is always out with friends, going to plays and concerts and movies. Perhaps getting involved in one thing would be a fun distraction from school work and waiting for Miles, at least until she is able to quit and be with him full time.

She expects a cappella tryouts to be a handful of girls in one of the practice rooms, but she is surprised when she is directed towards the auditorium on the first floor of the music building. It is packed with students, both girls and guys, and the reason becomes clear when the person in charge comes out to given them instructions.

“I’m Phil Coulson, member of the Treblemakers. When I call your name, come out on stage and sing the selection from “Since You’ve Been Gone.” Representatives from each of the four main a cappella groups on campus will be listening, and if they like you, they’ll contact you directly. Okay, first up is Raina.”

A girl wearing a flowered dress steps onto stage. She is very good, Daisy notes, though not all of the other students are that good. A few of the girls act like they are trying to mime the lyrics, and a lot of them have trouble hitting all the notes. Because she did not sign up ahead of time, Daisy has to wait for all the other students to go, and by the end she is a little nervous. Some of the a cappella groups, especially the Treblemakers, snicker at the students when they cannot hit all the notes. The Bellas are sitting together in the front row of the auditorium, and while Jemma smiles and applauds after every performance no matter how bad, Melinda and Bobbi are look grim and whisper solemnly after each performance.

When it is her turn, she does her best, but it is not her strongest song. Still, she had gone over it a couple of times before the audition, and she feels fairly confident with her performance. After she finishes, Jemma gives her an extra big smile and catches her eye as if to reassure her that she is in, but she cannot tell if the other two Bellas like it or not.

They are told that they will be contacted in the next few days if they made it, and Daisy gathers her stuff and goes to leave. She looks for Jemma, but the Bellas have already left, presumably to discuss the tryouts. On her way out though she runs smack into Grant Ward. 

His annoyed expression softens when he sees her face, and he unsubtly checks her out before flashing her a cocky grin.

“The late girl. Thanks for gracing us with your presence.” 

“Thanks.” She tries to remember where he had been sitting in the auditorium. “You’re one of the Treblemakers, right?” she guesses.

“I’m actually the leader of the Treblemakers. Grant Ward.”

By the way he emphasizes the word leader, Daisy can tell that he is pretty full of himself. But his tone is friendly and flirty, and she finds herself adopting it herself. “I heard you guys aren’t bad,” she says.

“If by ‘not bad’ you mean, got second place at last year’s national championships, then you heard right.”

“Ooh, second place. Guess that means this year, when I join the Bellas, we’re going to have to win first,” she teases.

He snorts. “Good luck with that.”

He turns to leave, but before he gets out of earshot, she says, “You better believe it, Grant Ward. We’re going to be coming for you guys.”

He turns and laughs. “I’ll be sure to watch my back, newbie.”


	3. Chapter 3

Daisy is not sure exactly how she will find out if she made the cut, but two days after tryouts, she wakes up to find a letter shoved under her door. Inside there is an invitation to join the Bellas written on embossed stationery. Their first rehearsal will be the next day at 2 pm, but tonight there is an initiation, followed by a party for all the a cappella groups at the amphitheater. It is the kind of corny club activity that normally makes Daisy roll her eyes, but she cannot help but smile thinking about how excited Jemma will be when she sees her.

Sure enough, when she gets to the Bellas’ practice room, Jemma jumps up to greet her.

“Daisy! I’m so glad you made it.” She gives Daisy a big hug. “We’re going to have so much fun together. Your audition was amazing. Everyone thought so.”

She is surprised by the hug, but she hugs Jemma back. “Thanks,” she says. She has never really been one for team activities in the past, and she is a little wary about being part of the Bellas, but Jemma’s warm welcome reassures her. Plus it is nice to have something to look forward to besides skipping classes and waiting for Miles to call.

Besides Daisy, there are three other new freshmen: Callie, Raina, and Kara. They all take a seat in a semi-circle facing a large whiteboard that is set up in the practice room. Melinda and Bobbi wait until they are all settled before introducing themselves.

“I’m Bobbi Morse, and this is Melinda May. We’re the co-captains of the Bellas.” Bobbi gives them a warm smile, but Melinda looks as solemn as she did at tryouts. 

Bobbi does most of the talking as she outlines their training schedule and plan to win Nationals. “We’ve made it to the Finals the last three years, and this year we’re going to win. There are three keys to a winning performance: harmony, choreography, and style. We’ll start by teaching you guys basic steps and doing some exercises to find our harmony.”

“What songs are we going to sing?” Daisy asks.

Bobbi glances at Melinda. “Melinda and I will figure that out. We’ll let you know what the routine is going to be, but first we need to focus on the basics.” 

Something about the look Melinda and Bobbi exchange gives Daisy the distinct impression that they are not as confident about their plans to win Nationals as they are letting on. Some of the other freshmen must feel the same way because Raina raises her hand.

“What about what happened last year?” she asks.

The other freshmen look confused, but Melinda turns pale, and Bobbi scowls. “What happened last year was a fluke,” Bobbi says. “It’s not going to be a problem this year.”

“What happened?” Kara asks.

Raina pulls out her phone. “One of my floormates showed me the video on youtube after she found out I was chosen to be a Bella.” 

Kara, Callie, and Daisy crowd around to watch. Daisy winces when she recognizes the song “The Sign.” But even if the song is dated, the girls do manage to sing in perfect harmony, at least for about thirty seconds or so until Melinda’s solo is supposed to start. Instead of soaring with the music, she crashes and burns and then throws up. If Melinda were not there, standing as still as a statue at the front of the practice room, they would probably be giggling, but under her stern gaze, they sit in uncomfortable silence until the video ends with Bobbi helping her off the stage.

When the video ends, four faces turn towards Bobbi and Melinda. Melinda looks pale, but she says sharply, “What happened last year is in the past. It’s not going to happen again. It’s going to be a lot of work, but we’re going to train you to be the best, and we will win the ICCA championship this year. Anyone who’s not on board with that can leave.” 

She points towards the door, and for a second, Daisy thinks about getting up and leaving. She wants a fun distraction, not boot camp. But then she thinks about what her mother would say. Jiaying had been thrilled to hear that Daisy is joining the team. If she were to quit after only a day, it would only spark another argument and might even jeopardize her plans to move to LA.

When no one moves, Melinda looks satisfied. “One more thing, if you’re going to be on this team, no dating the Treblemakers.”

Daisy laughs, assuming it is a joke, but Melinda scowls at her.

“Seriously?” Daisy asks. “You’re actually telling us who we can and can’t date?”

Melinda crosses her arms. “I don’t care who you date, so long as they aren’t a Treblemaker. Those guys are our competition.”

Even Bobbi is giving her a confused look. “It’s always been in the rulebook, but I thought it was kind of joke too. I mean, Victoria never enforced it.”

“Well I am. They’re our competition, and they’re a bunch of assholes. I’m not letting them mess with our group.”

After that they break to get ready for the a cappella party at the amphitheater. On the way out, Daisy pulls Jemma aside.

“You didn’t tell me it was so strict,” she complains.

Jemma gives her an apologetic look. “It’s going to be fun, I promise. And Bobbi and Melinda are amazing. They’re just a little nervous with the start of the year.”

“But I can’t believe they’re trying to tell us who we can and can’t date. Doesn’t that bother you?”

Jemma shrugs. “Not really. The Treblemakers are jerks. They’re always giving us a hard time. Even if I dated boys, I wouldn’t want to date them.”

Daisy is surprised to hear that Jemma is not into guys. She wonders if that is why Jemma is so friendly towards her. Trying to sound casual, she asks, “Are you seeing someone?”

“No,” Jemma says. “I had a girlfriend in high school, but we broke up. She’s in Boston, and it just seemed too hard to do long distance. She leans forward conspiratorially. “I had such a crush on Bobbi last year though. Sadly she’s not into girls.”

“Oh,” Daisy says. “I’m dating this guy Mies. We’ve been together since high school. He has an internship at a record company in LA.”

It may be her imagination, but she notices a hint of disappointment cross Jemma’s face. It is only there for a second though before Jemma smiles apologetically. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to say that long distance was a bad idea.”

“No, it’s cool. Long distance is tough,” Daisy admits, “but I’m hoping to go out to LA with him after this year.”

Jemma frowns. “You’re not planning on staying at Barden?”

“No. My mother’s a professor here, so she’s making me come for a year, but after that she said that she and my dad would help me move to LA. I want a career producing music.”

Jemma frowns. “Oh,” she says. An awkward silence falls between them, and then she asks, “Have you met Phil Coulson yet?”

“No. Who’s he?”

“He’s one of the Treblemakers, but he’s actually pretty nice. He’s a music comp major, and if you’re interested in producing music, he might be a good person to talk to. I can introduce you at the party tonight.”

Her mother has also suggested getting a music comp degree from Barden, which does have a strong department, but she has always rejected it as a waste of time. Still, she does not want to insult Jemma by rejecting her offer, so she says, “That’d be great, thanks Jemma.”

*****

It takes quite a bit of cajoling to get Melinda to leave their room for the aca-party. Bobbi hates bringing up Grant given how vulnerable Melinda is, but she finally she has no other choice.

“You know, if you keep hiding in your room because of him, you’re basically letting him win.”

Melinda glares at her, but she finally gets out of bed and gets dressed. She even agrees to wear a dress and let Bobbi do her makeup, so by the time they are ready to leave, Melinda looks amazing. Grant is going to eat his heart out. She looks so good that Bobbi worries that he might even try to get back together with her.

Before they leave, Bobbi says, “Now remember: no getting back together with him.” Melinda glares at her. “I mean it! It’s been too much of the back and forth with you guys. Remember Taylor Swift.”

Melinda has been playing a steady stream Taylor Swift breakup songs since they got back on campus, and she looks annoyed by Bobbi’s reminder. “I know. This is the last time.”

“Thank god.”

The amphitheater is already full when they get there. The High Notes are lounging around enjoying some herbal refreshment, and the BU Harmonics have launched into a medley of Madonna songs, but Melinda barely looks at them. All of her attention is focused on Grant Ward, who is standing with a bunch of the other Treblemakers, horsing around and drinking beer. 

“Want a beer?” Bobbi asks her. Melinda nods, so they stand in line for the keg.

While they are standing in line, one of the Treblemakers, Lance Hunter comes up. “Hello ladies. Want a hand with that?”

Melinda grabs the tap. “We’re fine.”

Bobbi notices the way his eyes are not quite focusing on them, and the slight slur to his speech. “You’re drunk.”

“I’m not drunk,” he says, “just having some fun. It is a party. I know how much you love a good party.”

Bobbi feels herself going red, and she hopes that Melinda doesn’t notice. The last time she saw Lance was on the last day of school at a party on High Street. They both had been there to blow off steam and had wound up in bed together. She had tried to make it clear that it was just a one time thing, but he had sent her a few emails over the summer break that she had studiously ignored. She feels guilty for ignoring him, but if he is upset about it, he is hiding his feelings well. He just gives her a suggestive grin and winks at her.

Melinda though is not paying attention to either Bobbi or Lance. She is searching the crowd, and at first Bobbi thinks she is on the lookout for Grant again, but then she notices Melinda smile at Phil, who grins and comes over to join them.

“Hi Melinda. Hi Bobbi. How were your summers?”

“Fine,” Bobbi says. “How was yours? You had an internship, right?”

“Yeah, it was good,” he says. “Did you get my emails?” he asks Melinda.

She nods. “Yeah. I’m sorry I didn’t write back. I didn’t really know what to say.”

“That’s okay. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” His voice softens. “I missed you.”

“I’m okay,” she says quietly. 

Phil smiles. “That’s good. I was hoping to see you tonight. I thought we could talk about our final projects. Do you still want to work together on them?”

Melinda shakes her head. “I’m not majoring in music anymore.” Bobbi and Phil stare at her, shocked. “I talked to my advisor. I have enough credits to graduate with a degree in Gender and Women’s Studies if I double up on seminars and drop my voice lessons.”

“But what do you even do with a degree in GWS?” Lance asks.

“Law school.”

Bobbi and Phil exchange a look. Melinda had come into Barden planning on going to law school, but halfway through her sophomore year she had switched to music, in large part due to her experience with the Bellas. The fact that she is switching back in her senior year has Bobbi worried.

Phil looks like he has the same worries. “I thought you didn’t want to go to law school.”

“I changed my mind,” Melinda says. “I can still help you with your project if you want though.”

“No, that’s okay. I can figure something else out. You’re going to be pretty busy with the Bellas and all those seminars.”

“Law school’s boring,” Lance interrupts. “Graduation is lame. Why are we talking about things that are lame? This is a party.” He drains his beer and then gestures back at the keg. “Want another one Bobbi?”

She shakes her head, and Lance refills his beer, then wanders off aimlessly. Bobbi wants to ask Melinda more about her decision to change her major, but she senses that Melinda is not in the mood.

“I really don’t mind helping you with your project,” she tells Phil. “It wouldn’t take that long for me to lay down the vocals.”

“Okay, thanks.” He smiles at her. “I don’t know the other voice majors that well, and you have such a beautiful voice.”

Melinda blushes and returns his smile. In spite of her earlier reluctance to come, she seems to be genuinely enjoying herself, and Bobbi wonders if it is because of the beer or Phil’s company. Melinda and Phil have been close friends since freshman year, but last year there had been so much drama between Melinda and Grant that Phil had wound up tangled up in. At the time, Bobbi had refused to believe the rumors about Melinda cheating on Grant with Phil, but as she watches the way Phil and Melinda are smiling at each other, she cannot help but wonder if there had been some truth to them.

*****

When Daisy finally arrives at the amphitheater, Jemma squeals and runs over to give her a hug.

“I thought you weren’t coming, or maybe you’d gotten lost.”

Daisy smiles. “Nope, I made it. Just wanted to call my boyfriend first.”

Jemma tries to hide her disappointment. “How is he?”

“He’s okay. Just tired.” Daisy sighs. “Long distance is tough. I wish I could be out there with him.”

“Oh, that reminds me, let me introduce you to Phil.” Jemma grabs her hand and leads Daisy over to where Phil is talking to Melinda and Bobbi.

“Hi Phil, sorry to interrupt, but this is Daisy. She’s one of the new Bellas, and she’s interested in being a music comp major.”

Phil looks surprised by the interruption, but he smiles warmly at Daisy. “Nice to meet you Daisy, and congratulations on becoming a Bella. Do you have any questions about the major?”

“Um, maybe.” Daisy looks a little uncomfortable to be put on the spot. “I mean, I want to produce music, but I don’t really know what a music comp degree is like.”

Phil nods like he understands where she is coming from. “Why don’t you come by the campus radio station sometime?” he asks. “I’m usually there in the afternoons, and we can talk more about it then.”

“Okay cool. Thanks.”

On the other side of the amphitheater, the BU Harmonics launch into another Madonna medley, and Bobbi rolls her eyes. “Someone needs to put them out of their misery,” she says. “I mean, I like Madonna, but enough is enough.”

“I think the Treblemakers have got you covered,” Phil says. He gestures to where Grant and some of the other guys have gathered. Sure enough, they start singing. It take a few seconds for Jemma to recognize the song, but when she does, she glances nervously at Melinda.

By the furious look on her face, Melinda has also registered that they are singing “Fuck you” by Cee Lo Green. Grant has a smug smile on his face as he sings, and every time he sings the words “fuck you,” he stares right at Melinda so everyone can tell just who he is singing to. A couple of the other Treblemakers have joined him, including a very drunk Lance, and Bobbi glares at him.

Phil leans over to Melinda and murmurs, “I’m sorry about this. I didn’t know he was going to do this.”

Melinda catches Bobbi’s eye, and together they step into the center of the amphitheater and starting singing Taylor Swift’s “We are never getting back together.”

The High Notes start laughing, and Jemma quickly joins in to harmonize with them. Before long all the new Bellas have joined in, and Jemma is pleased to note how nice they sound together. They are loud enough that they drown out the Treblemakers, who quickly give up and stop mid-song. Grant glares at Melinda and Bobbi before retreating back to the keg to get more beer. He looks pretty angry, and Daisy glances at Jemma.

“I feel like I’m missing something,” she says.

“Oh. Grant and Melinda used to date last year, but they broke up right before the finals.”

“Oh. I guess that explains Melinda’s stupid dating rule.” Daisy looks over at Grant. “He looks pretty upset.”

Jemma shrugs. Frankly she does not care. “He started it,” she points out.

Daisy’s attention stays fixed on Grant. “I’m going to go see if he’s okay.”

Jemma rolls her eyes. Without entirely meaning to, she blurts out, “Don’t talk to him, Daisy.”

Her eyes narrow. “Why not? Because Melinda wouldn’t approve?”

“No. Because he’s not a good guy. He’s a manipulative jerk who just uses women.” The words escape before she can realize what she is saying. Normally she tries to be fair and even-tempered with everyone, but she has had more than a few beers, and it kills her to see someone like Daisy fall for his superficial charms.

Daisy gives her a strange look. “Don’t worry, Jemma. I can handle myself. Besides, I have a boyfriend.”

Jemma blushes and looks away. She feels embarrassed about her outburst against Grant, but it seems to do the trick. They spend the rest of the party hanging out with the other freshmen Bellas, and even though Jemma catches Daisy looking at him, she doesn’t go over and talk to Grant all night.


	4. Chapter 4

Lance is kissing Bobbi’s neck, slowing making his way down to her collarbone, when the alarm on her phone goes off. She groans and rolls away.

“Hold that thought for another time,” she says. “I’ve got to go.”

“Seriously? Now?”

She is already sitting on the edge of the bed, hunting for her clothes. “I have to get to practice.”

“You guys practice a lot,” he complains.

“Well we have to. We have five new girls who’ve never even done a basic routine. We’re startling all over at the beginning.”

He takes her hand and gently tugs her back towards the bed. “So blow it off. You don’t need Bella boot camp. Play hooky with me.”

“I can’t. I need to whip the newbies into shape, and figure out a setlist with Melinda, and then choreograph the whole routine.” She rubs her face and groans. “Why is there so much to do? I don’t remember it being this crazy last year.”

“Because all of last year’s Bellas were scared away by the reign of Queen Victoria and Melinda choking at the finals,” Lance says bluntly.

Bobbi glares at him and tosses a pillow at him. “Don’t.”

“How is Melinda? I heard that she’s banned you girls from fraternizing with us. A little paranoid, don’t you think?” He gives her a crooked smile, which does not completely distract her from the sadness in his eyes. “You haven’t told anyone about us, have you?”

Guilt rises in her chest, and she looks away. “There’s nothing to tell her. I mean, it’s not like we’re a real couple. We’re just having some fun. You said that.”

He raises his hands in surrender. “Fine. Just want to make sure we have our stories straight.” He smirks. “I suppose it’s good that she doesn’t know about us. Don’t want her to take out an aca-hit on me for our aca-hookup.”

She rolls her eyes. “You think you’re aca-hilarious, but you’re really an aca-dork,” she says fondly.

*****

Melinda paces anxiously in the practice room. Bobbi is late to practice again, and Melinda really needs her help. They have been going over dance steps with the girls all week, and Raina and Callie are still struggling. Choreography is Bobbi’s area of expertise, but while they are waiting, Melinda has started the girls off with some endurance exercises and then switched to having them review the steps they learned last practice. It is nothing fancy, just the basic steps from their routine from last year. Bobbi wants to jazz it up for this year, but every time Melinda tries to talk to her about it, Bobbi disappears.

Watching them practice, Melinda’s not sure how much jazzing up the group can handle. Most of the girls have never done anything like this before, and it is painful to watch them stumbling around like a drunk, confused boy band. Finally, when Callie collides with Kara and sends them both tumbling to the ground, Melinda lets them take a break.

The girls look relieved at the chance to rest. While Melinda stares at the whiteboard, which has their routine diagramed like a football play, the girls drink some water and talk quietly, though not so quietly that Melinda can’t overhear them.

“You know, I thought I was signing up for a singing club, not 24 Hour Fitness,” she hears Daisy complain to Jemma.

“The judges weigh the dance routines just as heavily as the singing,” Jemma explains. “It’s important that we be in perfect harmony, both vocally and physically.”

“Yeah, but this routine is so old fashioned. I feel like one of the Spice Girls or maybe one of the Supremes. Why do just Bobbi and Melinda get to make all the decisions? I’ve got some ideas that could be really great.”

Jemma glances nervously at Melinda as if to see how much of their conversation Melinda has overheard, and Melinda looks away. She doesn’t want to deal with dissention in the ranks right now. She is already plagued with anxiety and indecision whenever she thinks about their routine or Regionals.

Normally this is the kind of thing that she would talk to Phil about. He has great taste in music and a good ear for composition, but things have been weird since last year’s Finals. Or really, they had been getting weird for a while, since his girlfriend Audrey had broken up with him the summer before junior year. They had always been close, but after his breakup with Audrey, they had gotten even closer, eating all their meals together and studying together every day. She had been dating Grant at the time, and he had been suspicious of their friendship. Throughout the year his jealousy would flare up, prompting several big fights, after which he would always beg her to take him back. Finally though, things had exploded for good right before the ICCA Finals. There isn’t a lot that she remembers fondly about that trip, but at least it marked the end of her tumultuous relationship with Grant.

After the competition, she had returned to campus to find that everyone was either laughing at her disastrous performance or spreading rumors about her sexual escapades. She never found out for certain who started the rumors, but she assumes it must be one of the Treblemakers. With all that going on, she could barely stand to get out of bed in the morning. Summer vacation had been a welcome break from all the drama, and it was hard to come back to campus and back to the Bellas.

During that time, she had withdrawn from everyone, even Bobbi and Phil, in an attempt to spare herself some pain and humiliation. In retrospect, she regrets that. She knows that Phil has been hurt by her avoiding him, and she wishes that she knew how to rebuild their friendship. But after so much awkward silence between them, she’s not sure how.

She is debating whether it is worth breaking her self-imposed radio silence to get Phil’s advice on their routine when Bobbi rushes into the practice room. “Sorry. Sorry I’m late everyone.”

Melinda shoots her an annoyed look. “Where have you been?”

“I had a group meeting that ran over,” Bobbi says.

“We were supposed to meet at lunch to figure out the routine.”

Bobbi looks guilty and tries to pull Melinda aside, but before she can, Daisy exclaims, “You mean you guys don’t have a routine for us yet?”

Raina and Daisy look annoyed, and Kara looks nervous. “But there’s not that much time before regionals,” Kara says.

“Yeah, and we suck,” Callie says. “We need as much time to practice as we can get.”

“Just focus on learning the basics, and we’ll figure out the routine,” Melinda says. She glances at her watch. “Bobbi will take over from here.”

“Now you’re leaving?” Raina asks.

“I have a seminar,” she says. “Work on the steps I showed you.” To Bobbi she says, “We need to talk after dinner.”

“Okay,” Bobbi says guiltily.

*****

Daisy knows that it’s a bad idea, but after another depressing practice, she has to check out their competition. The Treblemakers practice in another part of the music building, and Melinda and Bobbi have forbidden the Bellas from going by to watch. As soon as she gets there, Daisy understands why.

The Treblemakers are on a whole other level than the Bellas. They are like a well-oiled machine. Even in practice they harmonize together perfectly, and their dance moves are seamless. No one is off key or running into the others. She can tell why they have such a strong reputation, and why the guys are all so cocky.

Inside, the Treblemakers take a break, and Phil must notice her spying on them, because he steps into the hall, closing the door firmly behind him.

“Hey, you shouldn’t be here,” he says gently.

Daisy crosses her arms. “I’m not afraid of Bobbi and Melinda.”

He smiles fondly. “I am.” He glances behind him to see if anyone has noticed them talking. Reassured no one is watching them, he says, ”But seriously, Grant would be furious if he knew you were spying on us. We should keep this between us.”

“Thanks.”

“So how’s it going?”

“Okay.”

“Well, good luck. I’m looking forward to see what the Bellas have prepared for Regionals.”

She wonders if he is being sarcastic, but his smile appears genuine. “Yeah. You guys better, uh, watch your backs,” she says weakly.

That night, instead of working on remixes for her demo tape, she finds herself pulling together some songs that she thinks the group would be able to pull off. The next day at practice, she is about to present them to the group, but before she can, Melinda and Bobbi have an announcement of their own.

“This is going to be our setlist for Regionals,” Melinda says pointing at the whiteboard. “We’re starting with ‘The Sign,’ then --”

“This is just what you guys did last year,” Raina interrupts.

Melinda glares at her. “We made it to the Finals with that routine.”

“I’ve actually been putting together some new songs --” Daisy begins, but Bobbi interrupts her.

“New songs aren’t going to get us to the Finals. This routine is solid, and we have just enough time to really nail it down. Execution is what we should focus on now. There’s not time left to change things up.”

Daisy shakes her head, but she doesn’t push it. She only hopes they’re right.


	5. Chapter 5

The night before Regionals, Melinda can’t sleep. Every time she manages to drift off, she dreams that she is back on the stage at Nationals last year, having a complete meltdown while the crowd jeers at her. By the time she hears Bobbi getting up, she feels terrible, and she considers telling Bobbi that she can’t make it.

“Don’t even think of staying home,” Bobbi says as she comes back from the bathroom. “You can’t abandon me now.”

Her voice somewhat muffled from hiding under the covers, Melinda asks, “What if I can’t sing?”

Bobbi crosses her arms across her chest. “Prove it.”

She pokes her head out and tentatively sings the opening notes of her solo. In spite of her nerves, it sounds as perfect as always.

Bobbi nods and tosses Melinda her blue and yellow Bellas scarf. “You’re going to nail it, Melinda. Now get dressed.” She turns to the mirror in their dorm room and starts doing her hair. “I just hope the rest of the group sounds as good as you. Some of them are okay, but they still can’t work together.”

Melinda grimaces. Harmony is the whole point of a cappella, but their freshmen are more like five soloists fighting for the lead. “At least there’s still Jemma.”

“True. I just wish we had some more experienced girls.” Bobbi sighs and finishes fixing her hair. “Do you think we have a shot today?”

Truthfully, she isn’t sure, but she doesn’t want to be a complete downer, so she says, “If we can work together like we did in practice yesterday, I think we have a shot at second place.”

“I guess that’s the best we can hope for at this point. Hopefully that’ll be enough to energize the team and give them a boost of confidence. I’d still love to mix things up for the Semifinals.”

“Maybe,” Melinda says hesitantly. “Let’s see how we do today.”

*****

The Bellas have rented a college van to take them to Regionals, which is being held at a college two hours away. Thankfully they don’t have to share the bus with the Treblemakers, but even without them to tease and annoy them, the ride is tense and quiet. Bobbi can tell that they are worried about the competition. Things have not been going smoothly, and even their last rehearsal had had a lot of mistakes. They’ll have to do even better to win second place and advance to the Semi-Finals.

Things don’t lighten up once the competition starts. They have drawn the last spot, and watching everyone else go before them only makes the girls more anxious. A few of the teams are goofy, but most are pretty good. After each performance, the freshman give each other nervous glances.

There is so way that they can perform with everyone freaking out like this, so Bobbi pushes her own nerves aside and tries to reassure the team.

“Just do it like we’ve been practicing, and we’ve got it,” Bobbi whispers. “You guys were great at practice yesterday.” Great may be an overstatement, but it seems to do the trick because a few of the girls visibly relax.

The Treblemakers are up next, and they file past the Bellas onto the stage. Before going on though, Lance pauses next to Bobbi and pulls her aside.

“Hey, what are you doing later?” he asks in a low voice.

“Seriously? You’re doing this here?” She glances at the others to make sure no one is watching them.

“The guys are going to throw a party at the house tonight. Want to come?” He glances around and notices that the other Treblemakers are watching them. “I mean, all the Bellas should come.”

“Yeah. Come. See what it’s like to be around people who can actually sing for a change,” Grant says. He smirks at Melinda, and Bobbi rolls her eyes.

“Get out of here, aca-losers,” she says.

“Sure. Gotta go win our trophy.” Grant winks at Daisy and then hops onto the stage.

The opening of “Right Round” fills the auditorium, and Bobbi feels a knot of dread growing in her stomach as she watches their performance. As usual, the Treblemakers are flashy, slick, and perfectly choreographed. Grant has been their star for the past two years, and the entire routine is built around him as the soloist. As much as Bobbi hates him for the way he treated Melinda, she has to admit that he’s a good performer in a boy band kind of way. They are going to be tough if not impossible to beat today.

The Treblemakers leave the stage to thunderous applause, and finally it is time for the Bellas to perform. They file onto the stage, and Bobbi gives Melinda one last reassuring smile. 

The music starts, and the girls begin harmonizing. When it comes time for Melinda’s solo, she sings it flawlessly, though Bobbi thinks that it sounds a little mechanical. Every note may be on key, but there is none of the lightness and joy that is normally in her singing.

As for the rest of the girls, they do their best. Daisy and Jemma are very good, but Raina and especially Callie struggle through the routine. There are a few minor missteps, which Bobbi prays the judges don’t notice, but overall they manage to do even better than they had in practice.

When they leave the stage, most of the girls are grinning, but Melinda still looks worried. Bobbi pats her on the back.

“Everyone did great. I knew we could do it.”

Quietly, so as not to be overheard by the other girls, Melinda says, “It was good, but not good enough.” She glances at Grant. “I want to crush him.”

Bobbi nods. “We will,” she promises. “Next time.”

*****

With their second place trophy in hand, the mood on the bus ride back to Barden is much more jubilant than they were on the way to the competition. Jemma leads the girls in singing Taylor Swift songs the whole ride home, and even Melinda joins in. When they arrive back on campus, it is still early, and none of them feel like going to sleep.

“We go out tonight to celebrate. Anyone know of a good party on campus?” Callie asks.

“We could go to the Treblemakers’ party,” Kara suggests.

Jemma grimaces. The last thing she wants tonight is to have the Treblemakers laughing at them, but the other girls jump on it.

“Grant said that we should come by around 11,” Daisy says.

Jemma glances at Bobbi and Melinda, expecting them to argue against going, but they are both oddly silent.

With no votes again, the girls decide to go to the party. It is only 10:00 now, so they split up to go to their respective dorm rooms to get ready and then meet there. Jemma stays quiet as the others excitedly make plans. She doesn’t want to ruin their fun, but she has no intention of spending the evening with the Treblemakers. Her roommate is probably in their room, watching a movie with her friends, and Jemma will probably just join them. As she is walking back to her dorm though, she notices Daisy chasing after her.

“Hey, you were kind of quiet back there. Are you coming out tonight?” Daisy asks.

Jemma shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Aw, come on. It’ll be fun.”

“I’m just not that into the Treblemakers. But you should go. Have a good time.”

“It’s not about hanging out with Treblemakers,” Daisy says. “All the Bellas will be there, and we should celebrate our victory. Come on. We’ll have more fun if you’re there.”

Daisy’s warm words make Jemma blush, and she hopes Daisy doesn’t notice it in the darkness. “Okay. I’ll see you there.”

*****

Back in their room, Melinda flops onto her bed as Bobbi changes out of her Bellas uniform. When she notices that Bobbi is changing into a nice blouse and touching up her makeup, she asks Bobbi, “So are we really going to this?”

“I thought it’d be fun for at least a while.”

Melinda frowns. “You hate the Treblemakers. You never wanted to go to their parties last year,” she points out.

“Yeah, well that’s when there was all that drama between you and Grant. Tonight should be fun. We both won.” Bobbi turns to face Melinda. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

It is tempting to just pull on her pajamas and curl up in bed, but then she shakes her head. “I told Phil that I’d stop by.”

Bobbi grins and raises one eyebrow. “Oh Phil?”

She tries to keep her expression neutral. “We’re just friends.”

“Okay,” Bobbi says, but she doesn’t bother hiding her knowing smile.

The Treblemakers live in an old Victorian house off campus, and it only takes a few minutes for Melinda and Bobbi to walk over there. When they get there, they see Phil and Lance sitting on the porch, drinking beers.

Phil grins and waves when he sees them. “Glad you made it. Can I get you a drink?”

Melinda returns his smile. “Thanks, that’d be great.”

Bobbi gives Melinda a knowing look. “Come on Lance, let’s go get some more beers for everyone.”

“But I’m not done drinking this one,” Lance protests.

Bobbi grabs the cup out of his hand. It’s not even half full, and she drains it in one long swig. “Now you are. Come on.”

Grumbling, he follows her, leaving Phil and Melinda alone. He gives her a quizzical look, and she blushes.

“Bobbi’s not exactly subtle.”

“I’m not complaining. It’s good to see you. I feel like we’ve barely talked since the party at the amphitheater.”

Melinda gives him a sheepish look. “I’m sorry. I know I was supposed to help you with your final project.”

“That’s okay. I haven’t even started thinking about that yet. I just meant that I miss seeing you. How have you been?”

“Busy. I’ve got a lot going on between classes and the Bellas.”

“Well all that hard work definitely paid off. You guys looked great tonight.”

Melinda smiles. “Liar.”

“Second place is nothing to laugh at. Especially when you’ve got five new girls.”

“Yeah, and I bet the Treblemakers weren’t laughing at us the whole way home.”

He shakes his head. “I’m sorry about those guys, but you shouldn’t listen to them. Grant’s just trying to push your buttons. I don’t think the other guys even listen to him anymore.”

Melinda smiles. His words mean a lot to her. “Thanks. You know, if you still want me to, I could meet you this week to work on your project.”

His face lights up. “That’d be great.”

She hops up to sit on the railing, and Phil moves to stand right next to her. She leans against the post and gives a contented sigh. It has been so long since she has felt as relaxed as she does right now. Since school started, she has felt overwhelmed with everything - the Bellas, classes, law school applications. But just being with Phil makes it all melt away.

“I’ve missed seeing you too,” she says softly.

His smile widens, and he leans towards her. “You know I thought about you the other day. I wanted to watch The Breakfast Club, but it just didn’t feel right with you.”

“You’re still obsessed with that movie,” she teases.

“Hey, it’s a classic! You know you love it. Maybe you could come by my apartment sometime and watch it. For old time’s sake.”

Melinda feels herself blushing, and she hopes he doesn’t notice. “I’d like that.”

There is a strange energy between them tonight. He is leaning towards her, and she feels very aware of how close he is to her, how he is leaning into her so that their faces are almost touching. She wonders if he is going to kiss her, and the thought makes her feel both excited and terrified. But before anything can happen, the front door swings open loudly to reveal Lance and Bobbi bearing drinks.

“Okay, beers all around,” Lance announces loudly, obliviously shoving himself between Phil and Melinda to hand them their drinks. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Nothing,” they say in unison.

The spell between them broken, Phil scoots away from Melinda and leans against the railing a few feet away. Bobbi gives Melinda a look, and Melinda stares at her drink. Lance launches into a story about something funny that happened in his European History class the other day, but she can barely pay attention. She keeps replaying that moment again and again in her mind, and she wonders if Phil is doing the same.

*****

Jemma takes her time getting ready for the Treblemakers’ party, borrowing a dress from her roommate and even letting her do her make up, so by the time she gets to the party, it is already in full swing. She waves at Melinda and Bobbi, who are standing on the porch with Phil and Lance, but they are so engrossed in their conversation that they don’t notice. She considers joining them, but decides to search the house for Daisy and the other Bellas.

Her stomach flutters nervously as she searches for Daisy, and she tries to push down those feelings. Daisy has a boyfriend, and Jemma isn’t even sure that she’s into girls. They are just good friends, but it is hard to ignore the fact that at times it feels like there is something more between them.

Case in point, when Jemma finally finds Daisy standing on the back porch with Grant, her face lights up, and she rushes towards her.

“You made it!” she exclaims, giving Jemma a big hug. “I thought you weren’t coming.”

“I just had to get ready,” Jemma says.

“Well you look great. Super hot,” Daisy says, and Jemma blushes.

Daisy is slow to pull away, and when she does, Jemma notices that her eyes are too bright, and her voice is louder than normal.

“How are you? Having fun?”

“Finally.” Daisy grabs her drink and takes a large gulp. “I got into a huge fight with Miles after the tournament. I think it’s over.”

“Oh no. What happened?”

Daisy waves her hand, as if trying to push aside Jemma’s question. “I don’t want to talk about it. Not now. It’s a party! And we’re celebrating.” She beams at Grant. “Number one and number two a cappella teams at Regionals! Stupid Miles didn’t understand how important that is. He was all blah-blah It’s just a cappella and when are you coming out to LA, and I was all why can’t you understand that this is important to me. And then he was all --”

Grant interrupts her. “Well that’s over now. Want another rum and Coke?”

Daisy stares into her cup. “I still have some.”

“I’m going to get another drink,” Grant says. “I’ll get you one too.”

Jemma frowns at Grant, but he walks off before she can say anything. She doesn’t like the way Daisy is looking -- flushed and confused, her eyes a little out of focus. “Are you okay, Daisy?”

“I’m good. Great! Now that you’re here.” She throws her arms around Jemma again. “I’m so glad we’re friends!”

“Me too,” Jemma says. “Hey, I’m going to get you some water. You look like you need some water.”

Daisy nods vigorously. “I’m so thirsty.”

“Okay. Stay here. Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

However, when she gets back with the water, Grant is back and encouraging Daisy to drink both of the rum and Cokes in front of her. Furious, Jemma marches up to him.

“I don’t think she needs more alcohol right now,” Jemma snaps.

Grant rolls his eyes. “Relax. It’s a party. She’s fine. She can sleep it off upstairs.”

He looks at Daisy for confirmation, but at that moment, the color drains out of her face, and she looks very sick.

“Oh --” she groans, and then leans over the edge of the porch and throws up into the bushes.

Jemma holds her hair back and pats her shoulder. “It’s okay, Daisy.” She waits a few minutes to make sure that Daisy is finished throwing up, and then she helps her inside to the kitchen to get her cleaned up. In the back of her mind, she notices that Grant has completely disappeared.

“We should get you home,” Jemma says.

Daisy nods weakly. “I’m sorry. I don’t feel good.”

“I know. It’s okay.” Jemma sighs. This isn’t at all how she thought the night would go, but she is certainly not going to abandon Daisy now. “Let’s get you home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay between chapters 4 and 5. Some real life stuff came up, but I'm going to try to post about once a week or so.


	6. Chapter 6

The sound of someone shuffling around their room wakes Melinda up. She opens her eyes sees Bobbi, trying to be quiet as she changes out of her clothes from the night before. It is just after 8 am, and Melinda raises her eyebrows questioningly at her roommate.

“You disappeared last night,” she says.

“Oh. Yeah. Um, sorry about that,” Bobbi says sheepishly. “Some of the girls from my bio class were throwing a party, so I swung by their dorm.”

“I was worried about you when you didn’t come home.”

“Sorry,” Bobbi says, looking away. “I fell asleep over there.”

Melinda frowns. It isn’t like Bobbi to ditch her at a party like that, and she is acting guilty and evasive. She wonders if Bobbi is hiding something from her, but she decides not to confront her. Melinda doesn’t want to start a fight with her roommate, not when she is desperate to get Bobbi’s perspective on what happened with Phil the night before, so she changes the subject. “Want to get breakfast? I need to talk to you about what happened last night.”

Bobbi looks uncomfortable. “Maybe later. I’m going back to sleep.” She pulls on her pajamas and crawls into bed. “Could you bring me back a bagel?”

“Okay.” Melinda pauses at the door and looks back at Bobbi, who has already pulled the blankets over her head to go to sleep. It may just be her imagination, but since school started, she has felt a distance growing between herself and Bobbi. At first it was just small things here and there. They kept missing each other at dinner, or Bobbi would forget that they were supposed to meet to talk about the Bellas. But now she wonders if Bobbi is purposefully trying to hide something from her.

*****

The morning after the party, Daisy wakes up feeling terrible. Her mouth is as dry as sandpaper, her head is throbbing, and when she sits up, the entire room feels like it is spinning. All she wants is to collapse back into bed and pass out until dinner, but she knows that that would be a rookie mistake. She needs food and water, so she drags herself to the dining hall, arriving just before brunch closes. She loads up her tray with eggs, sausage, and plenty of home fries, as well as several glasses of water and two mugs of coffee. 

Across the dining hall, she spots Jemma, sitting by herself and doing the crossword as she finishes her meal. Daisy plops down next to her.

“Hey, thanks again for taking care of me at the party last night,” Daisy says. “I can’t believe I was such a mess.”

Jemma puts down her paper. “Don’t worry about it. How are you feeling?”

“I have a killer hangover,” she groans. “I am never drinking rum and Coke again.”

“I meant more how are you doing after what happened with Miles. You seemed really upset last night. I’m sorry you guys broke up.”

“Thanks. I should have seen this coming. We’ve been drifting apart for a while. It was getting harder and harder to find a time to talk on the phone, and whenever we did, all he wanted to talk about was himself. He acted like everything I’m doing is a joke.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.” Daisy sighs. “It’s probably for the best. I mean, I’d been having second thoughts about going out there at the end of this year anyway. But I’m sorry that you had to take care of me. Did I make a total idiot of myself?”

“You were fine,” Jemma assures her. “Don’t worry about it. That’s what friends are for.”

Daisy smiles. “You’re such a great friend. I’m lucky to have you.”

Jemma blushes and returns her smile. “Me too.”

*****

By the time Bobbi wakes up from her nap, brunch is already over, and Melinda has come and gone again. She is probably at the library studying, like she always is these days, but she did leave a bagel for Bobbi on her desk. Bobbi gets up to make some coffee, then lounges on her bed with the bagel and thinks.

Sneaking around with Lance is really starting to wear on her. At first, it had felt exhilarating, but now, keeping all the lies straight is just exhausting. She worries constantly about what will happen if someone finds out, and especially what that effect that will have on her friendship with Melinda.

She wonders if maybe she is blowing this all out of proportion. Maybe Melinda won’t be upset that she’s dating Lance. Maybe she’ll be happy for her. But then she thinks about Lance -- charming, but also loud and drunk and completely ridiculous. Always guaranteed to put his foot in his mouth. Like last night, everything had started off fine, but as the party wore on, he got drunker and more ridiculous until Melinda had rolled her eyes and stormed off in the middle of him telling a vaguely offensive joke. He certainly isn’t the kind of guy she imagined herself falling for.

Bobbi wishes that she could confide in someone about Lance, but no one comes to mind. Melinda may be her best friend, but she isn’t very fond of Lance, and since the semester started, she has been so tense and uptight about everything, especially the Bellas and the Treblemakers. Bobbi isn’t sure how Melinda would react to the news that she is dating a Treblemaker, but she suspects it wouldn’t be good. She only hopes that now that they’ve the team has proven themselves at Regionals, Melinda will ease up and be more like the warm, humorous friend that Bobbi remembers.

*****

After her hangover brunch, Daisy feels somewhat better. Definitely less nauseated and dizzy, but still tired. While Jemma goes to study, Daisy gives herself the day off from studying and goes back to her room to rest. Her roommate is gone, and she turns on the campus radio station for company as she lies on her bed and debates taking a nap.

The music is good, better than the usual top 40 hits and whiny pretentious rock that most of the students play. When the song ends, and the DJ comes on to introduce the next song, Daisy recognizes the voice of Phil Coulson. Hearing his voice reminds her of his offer to talk to her about the music composition major. Now that she isn’t going to LA with Miles at the end of the year, she needs a new plan, and talking to Phil is a good place to start.

His show is almost over, and she decides to walk over to the campus radio station and see if he has time to talk now. The radio station is located in the basement of Norris Hall, on the other side of campus. By the time she gets there, he is wrapping up the show, and he waves at her from the booth.

“Cool show,” she says as he comes out of the booth.

“Hey Daisy. How’s it going?”

“Still recovering after last night, actually. You guys sure know how to throw a party.”

“I’m glad the Bellas came. This rivalry between the Treblemakers and the Bellas has gotten out of hand. We should have fun together and help each other out.”

“Speaking of helping, that’s actually why I came by. My plans for next year kind of fell through, and it looks like I’m going to need a major after all. I was wondering if I could pick your brain about the music comp major.”

“Sure. I’m actually on my way to the music lab now. I could show you around.”

On the way to the music building, Phil tells her everything about the courses and the professors. He assures her that the courses are great, and the professors have a lot of experience and enough connections to the music industry that graduates are able to put their degrees to use right after graduation.

“So what are you going to do after graduation?” Daisy asks him.

“I want to compose music for movies and TV shows. I had an internship last summer with the guy who composes music for that Marvel TV show, and it was a great experience. Next year I’ll be going to USC to get a Master’s degree.”

“Cool.” In spite of her initial skepticism, it seems like getting a music composition degree would actually be helpful, and as an added bonus it would please her mother and probably make her more inclined to help Daisy eventually move to LA.

The recording studios are on the second floor of the music building. Despite coming here every day for Bellas practice, Daisy has never seen them in person. When Phil shows her the sleek studio, full of professional quality equipment, Daisy’s jaw drops.

He smiles when he sees the look of amazement on her face and starts to set everything up. “Better than playing around on your laptop?”

“Definitely,” Daisy says.

*****

Melinda has a final paper coming up for her Gender and Women’s Studies seminar, so after eating and leaving a bagel for Bobbi, she goes to the library to work on it. She grabs a cubicle and stays there for hours, reading and re-reading articles as she works on her paper. She is so focused on her assignment that she works straight through lunch, and she would have probably worked well past then, except that her phone vibrates to remind her to meet Phil.

Before leaving the party last night, she and Phil had made plans to work together on his senior project this afternoon. When her phone vibrates, she debates calling him to push it back until tomorrow. She’s made a lot of progress on her paper today, and she isn’t really at a good stopping point. However, she would hate to disappoint him, and the thought of seeing him again fills her with a nervous excitement.

They have been friends for a long time, and over the years, there have been a few times when it seemed like there might be something more than just friendship between them. In the past though, something had always gotten in the way -- other relationships, or her fear of jeopardizing their friendship. But last night had felt different. Last night, she felt like it might finally be time to see if they can be something more.

Unfortunately, the pleasant flutter of excitement in her stomach turns sour when she gets to the music building and sees Phil talking to Daisy in the control booth. They are both staring at the computer screen, and Daisy is talking animatedly and gesturing at the music. Phil is nodding and making adjustments to the arrangement. She notices the way Phil is smiling at Daisy, the way his eyes are bright with excitement, and she feels the bitter taste of jealousy rise in the back of her throat. She wants to run back to the library, back to her paper, and try to forget how excited she had been to see him only a few moments earlier, but before she can, Phil spots her and waves her into the booth.

“Hey Melinda. Daisy has had some great suggestions for my project.”

“Great,” she says dully. “I didn’t know Daisy was in music comp too.”

“She’s not, not yet anyway. But we were talking, she has a real knack for it. We’re reworking some of the tracks now.”

“So what do you need me to do?”

“Um --” Phil hesitates and stares at the screen. “Maybe -- well, do you want to look over what we have? I’d love to hear your input, too. Then we could lay down your vocals another day once we’ve got everything set.”

“Okay.” Melinda takes a seat next to him. It is quickly clear though, that she is out of her element. She took a few introductory music composition classes, but Phil and Daisy have a better ear for this kind of thing, and they are completely in sync. She is quiet as they make changes to the arrangement, feeling more and more useless as the afternoon goes on.

It’s not that she thinks that there’s anything going on between Daisy and Phil besides the bonding of two music nerds with similar taste in music. But she still can’t help but feel disappointed that he is more focused on Daisy and the project than he is on her. She worries that the spark she felt between them last night is only in her head. Maybe it’s too late for them to be anything more than friends, and she missed her chance all those times before when she let something else stand in their way.

*****

It is great working with Phil, and the next day at the Bellas practice, Daisy is full of new ideas for arrangements that the team can do. It may have gotten them second place at Regionals, but Daisy cannot bear to do that tired old routine one more time in public.

At practice though, Melinda and Bobbi don’t even mention changing their routine. Bobbi congratulates them again on getting second place at Regionals, and then Melinda outlines all of the mistakes that they made, which she says is why they didn’t get first.

“This can’t happen next time,” she says. “We’ve got plenty of time before the Semi-Finals, and I want it to be perfect by then.”

Daisy raises her hand. “So we’re doing the same routine, again?”

“Do you have a problem with that?” Melinda asks.

“Yeah, it was lame the first time around, and it’s still lame. No way we’re going to win first with that outdated routine.”

Bobbi glances at Melinda. “We’ve got a few adjustments planned for the choreography to smooth it out.”

Melinda crosses her arms. “You may think that routine is lame, but it got us to Nationals last year, and it’s going to get us there this year.”

“I have a lot of ideas for new routines,” Daisy pushes. “I do these mashups, and Phil thinks they’re great. Better than what we have.”

She notices that Melinda flinches slightly at mention of Phil. “Why are you sharing ideas with the Treblemakers? They’re our competition.”

“Phil’s a friend. I thought he was your friend too. You know, maybe if you’d gotten his help earlier, we would’ve won Regionals.”

Melinda turns pale, and her eyes narrow. “That’s enough. If you have a problem with the routine, then there’s the door. But this is what we’re doing. End of discussion.”

For a moment Daisy is tempted to leave. She doesn’t need this drama in her life, and she isn’t about to cave to a stubborn dictator like Melinda. Besides, she knows that she is right about the routine. But Jemma is giving her a pleading look to stay, as are the other freshman girls, and she doesn’t want to let them down. She sighs. “Yes ma’am,” she says sarcastically.


End file.
